Signs of Spring abound here at Hagley Museum and Library! This statue of a rabbit in the window of the Museum of Forestry and Hunting in Belgrade, Serbia was spotted around 1975 by industrial designer Marc Harrison (1936-1998) while traveling. It is part of Hagley Library's Marc Harrison photograph collection (Accession 2005.255).
This collection has been partially digitized for a digital collection of materials associated with Universal Design. Universal design principles prioritize accessibility for people regardless of age and ability in product and environment creation. The origin of these concepts can be traced to the rehabilitation engineering and assistive technologies that were developed during and after World War II to meet the needs of veterans with disabilities.
This online collection explores the industrial design careers of two pioneers of universal design, Thomas Lamb (1896-1988) and Marc Harrison (1936-1998), and features approximately 500 documents and images digitized in conjunction with a web exhibit on the subject.
When Harrison was eleven years old, he suffered a severe brain injury due to a sledding accident in the Bronx, New York. As a result of the accident, he had to relearn functions such as walking and talking. As a working adult, Harrison became an industrial designer, and used this event and the years of rehabilitation that followed, with the insight and motivation to conduct pioneering work in then still developing field of Universal Design.
To see other items in the Hagley Library's collections related to universal design, visit the Universal Design collection in our Digital Archives by clicking here.